Major international organizations classify countries by different factors. One criterion that is often used is gross national income (GNI) per capita – the dollar value of a country’s final income in a year, divided by its population

Islamic Finance

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MIDDLE EAST 2014 SUPPLEMENT By Gordon Platt Islamic finance is going mainstream, with Western countries planning to issue their first sovereign sukuk. It still constitutes only a small percentage of total global financial assets, and most activity is concentrated in ...

MILESTONES By Gilly Wright By awarding HSBC and Linklaters as external advisers, the UK government is a little closer to its widely anticipated issue of a sovereign sukuk, or Islamic bond. Last October in London during the World Islamic Economic ...

SPECIAL REPORT By Andrew Cunningham Al Rajhi tops the rankings of Safest Islamic Banks in the GCC. The use of Islamic finance arouses strong emotions. For its supporters, it offers an ethical way of conducting financial transactions that is far ...

SPECIAL REPORT: ISLAMIC TRADE FINANCE By Anita Hawser Islamic trade finance is of increasing interest, but whether it will be successful depends on market forces. “Shariah-compliant trade finance is an ancient tradition with a long history of supporting economic activity ...

REGIONAL SUPERSECTION — STEPPING UP THE COMPETITION By Gordon Platt Does the Gulf Cooperation Council need yet another international financial center? Oil-rich Abu Dhabi thinks it does. The United Arab Emirates is about to open its second ...

REGIONAL SUPERSECTION The six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE—have a common need to adjust to a changing global oil market as a result of the surge in US oil ...

REGIONAL SUPERSECTION — SEEKING A NEW MODEL By Anita Hawser As the infrastructure boom continues, it may be time for GCC countries to reevaluate how they select and fund new projects. “Abu Dhabi cannot rely solely on ...

STEALING THE SHOW By Gordon Platt Middle East banks say they are catching up to the global transaction banks, and in some cases winning greater market share by delivering solutions that meet the specific needs of companies doing business ...

WAITING FOR THE RENAISSANCE By Gordon Platt Egypt’s elections promised much in terms of building a modern and democratic state. But the realities of governing for the Muslim Brotherhood are proving more difficult than initially thought—and some economic ...

A DEFINING MOMENT By Anita Hawser Global Finance presents the winners of its awards for the World’s Best Islamic Financial Insititutions 2013. With Islamic banking assets predicted to pass the $1.1 trillion mark in 2012 and Islamic ...

MILESTONES: IRAQ By Gordon Platt The five largest nongovernmental banks in Iraq posted a 207% increase in aggregate earnings between 2010 and 2012, thanks to the country’s strong economic growth and increasing demand for credit, according to a report on ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: CORPORATE DEBT By Gordon Platt A series of three major sukuk issues in Saudi Arabia in the first week of April demonstrated the growing depth of the debt capital markets in the kingdom, where corporations are ...

BRIGHT STARS By Thomas Clouse, Jonathan Gregson, Antonio Guerrero & Gordon Platt Following a year that included some of the biggest scandals in banking history—the London Whale, the Libor rate-fixing scandal, widespread money laundering, insider trading, rogue trading and ...

CLIFFORD CHANCE TO OPEN SAUDI PARTNERSHIP By Gordon Platt Clifford Chance is the first global law firm to receive approval from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry to create a Saudi-foreign legal partnership in the kingdom. Photo ...

VISIONS OF SPLENDOR By Gordon Platt Investor confidence has returned to the UAE, with the former debt-laden emirate of Dubai once again planning major infrastructure projects. Even a new financial center is planned for construction. Dubai continues ...